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Thursday, January 6, 2011

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS!

It's that time of year when you're supposed to vow to be a better person, even though last year you vowed the same thing and how did you do? Did you do as terribly as I did? I was going to post my resolutions from last year to see how I did, but when I looked back at what they were and saw that I'd accomplished very few of them, it sent me into a spiral of depression and self-doubt and that's good for no one. Except for people who like it when I'm sad but those people sound like assholes. Anyway.

I think I really just hate the word "resolution." It's stupid. So these aren't my resolutions for the year, they're my GOALS. Let's go with that.

1. Write with purpose

Not that I don't find it enjoyable to spout complete nonsense on my blog, um, all the time, but my blog is not so much what I'd call "publishable." And I'd very much like to be "publishable" so when people ask me what I do for a living, I can answer with something like "such and sucha writer" instead of how I normally answer, which is with an anguished cry, followed by me bashing my face into a wall until I pass out.

This means less internet time, I think. Not necessarily less blogging time, but less time falling down Wackopedia rabbit holes and watching weepy videos on YouTube. This is probably not specific enough, so I'd like to commit to writing for at least 30 minutes a day. That's about the same amount of time it takes to watch an episode of Weeds, and I've been watching like two or three of those a day. I can probably, PROBABLY, give up at least one episode.

2. Be more active

I have a tendency to become hermit-like, especially in the winter, because it's cold outside and also? My home is awesome, why would I ever want to leave it? But I can't use the cold as an excuse forever because it's cold for like four months here and that's a long time to wait to start having a life.

When I say be more active, I mean physically, of course, but also more active in the community. I volunteer but I'd like to get involved a bit more with that, as well as finding more stuff to do in Dayton. I realize that sounds crazy, because I always complain about how there's nothing to do in Dayton, but that's really not true at all. Whenever we look for stuff to do, there are always a lot of options, but I'm so indecisive that I usually end up doing, um, nothing.

But not tonight! Tonight we're going to a bar! On a school night! To play trivia! Because we are nerds!

3. Cook more, cook healthier

This is always one of my goals, and I think I've been getting better but there's definitely still room for improvement. I got a shitload of cookbooks for Christmas, so I have no excuse for not accomplishing this one. Things are going well so far because I've eaten pretty well since we got back from Florida. The other night I made some yummy raspberry glazed grilled chicken OMG IT WAS SO GOOD. And healthy. Win win win. I don't know.

4. Save more money

Ugh, I'm so bad at this one. Admittedly, I've gotten a lot better than I used to be, but still...the amount of money I blow on crap I don't need is just, well, stupid. I think this will be a lot easier once Joe and I get a joint account (joint checking and savings account, not like an account where we save money to buy joints) because we'll have to have a budget and blah blah blah money stuff is boring. I would like to have more money saved in case we want to ever buy a house or move somewhere awesome or just go on more trips.

5. Figure out how to get Max to stop eating Phoebe's poop

Seriously, dog? Gross. Why are you doing that? We feed you plenty. We play with you. We take you on walks. WHY ARE YOU EATING POOP?

I am taking suggestions on number 5. Like, please, hurry. And nothing obvious like, "clean the litter box more often," because I'm already doing that. I would like to be able to leave it, though, for more than 12 hours, depending on Phoebe's poo schedule. Yes, I just said poo schedule. This post went downhill really quickly. STANDARD.

Actually, it seems pretty par for the course to read a phrase like "poo schedule" in your blog, Jennie. I have two cats but no dog, so I have no experience with your #5 dilemma, though. Sorry.

My problem with making lists of goals is that I have trouble figuring out what I really want. I mean, I know what I really want in terms of a milkshake or cookie choice. But my career? I have no idea. I have A career, but is it The One? I'm 33, dangit. I SHOULD HAVE THIS FIGURED OUT BY NOW.

I read this will all kinds of advice in my head (cause I like telling people what to do, natch), but the thing I'm most interested in right now is how you can work out at your house. In California terms, your house is GIANT and you have that whole room/office thing that's extra. There are usually awesome Craigslist (and sometimes old timey classifieds ads) deals on used treadmills. You could work out AT HOME thus never having to leave. Which is my number one goal in life.